It barely qualified as a fist pump, given some of the theatrics of today’s made-for-TV athletes, but it was a fist pump nonetheless.
A half-hour after throwing out Willie Harris trying to steal in the ninth inning, Chris Iannetta all but apologized for his momentary show of emotion.
“I’m not that guy,” Iannetta said. “I don’t jump up and down unless it’s a walkoff or something big. For me, part of it is a respect of the game. I don’t want to show anybody up. I don’t want to get too high or too low.”
Given the events of the past week, Iannetta is going to have to work at not getting too high. He doubled and homered against Mets left-hander Chris Capuano on Monday night, scoring both Rockies runs in a 2-1 win at Coors Field.
The home run came in the seventh inning when he lined a 2-2 slider from Capuano 10 feet inside the left-field foul pole to help the Rockies snap a four-game losing streak.
“I don’t know if you can hit a line drive much harder than that,” Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. “I thought he hit it so well the topspin was going to hit the top or the middle of the wall. He crushed it.”
Maybe last season, when Iannetta hit .197, the ball would have gone for a double or hooked foul. Not this year. Iannetta, whose offensive struggles have made him an inviting target in the peanut gallery, is on a roll.
He finished April at .182. Since then, he has hit .409 (9-for-22) to lift his batting average to .247. One more hit and he’ll tie his total from the first month of the season. Oh, and did we mention he has homered in each of the Rockies’ last three wins?
Iannetta has adjusted his mechanics at the plate, landing lightly on his left foot as he steps into the pitch. Earlier in the season, he landed heavily on his lead foot, leaving him, in Tracy’s words, “in absolutely no position whatsoever to fire at the pitch.”
To know Iannetta, though, is to know it’s much more than a tweak and tuck to his mechanics. It’s a mental thing. Tracy says Iannetta is “a new guy,” which is to say he’s the same guy whether he’s in a slump or on a tear.
Rockies pitcher Jason Hammel, Iannetta’s virtual neighbor who worked out with him during the Rhode Island winter, could see the change in Iannetta before the two arrived at spring training.
“He’s not taking it as hard on himself when he doesn’t get the job done,” Hammel said. “He’s gone from trying so hard to where he’s like: ‘You know what? Screw this. It didn’t happen today, so move on to the next day.’ It’s fun to watch.”
Iannetta’s night’s work extended beyond the batter’s box. Jhoulys Chacin credited him with calling a game that kept the Mets off balance despite Chacin’s inability to command his fastball — he threw 107 pitches, 52 of them balls — leaving him in hitter’s counts.
Chacin tied his career high with six walks before leaving after the sixth with a no-decision. One inning later, Iannetta unloaded his fifth homer to help the Rockies erase the bitter taste of a 1-5 road trip to Arizona and San Francisco.
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com
Looking ahead
TUESDAY: Mets at Rockies, 6:40 p.m., Root
Jason Hammel has thrown 13 consecutive scoreless innings since serving up a home run to Andrew McCutchen to lead off the game April 30. Hammel (3-1, 2.63 ERA) is allowing a .261 batting average this season compared with .287 in 2009 and .290 in 2010. Don’t let Mike Pelfrey’s ugly ERA fool you. Pelfrey (2-3, 6.06) has allowed one earned run in two of his last three starts and has a career 3.24 ERA at Coors Field. Remember his last start in LoDo? The Rockies would like to forget April 15, 2010, when he allowed five hits in seven scoreless innings. Jim Armstrong, The Denver Post
Upcoming pitching matchups
Wednesday: Mets’ Jon Niese (1-4, 4.71 ERA) at Rockies’ Ubaldo Jimenez (0-2, 5.88), 1:10 p.m., Root
Thursday: Off
Friday: Padres’ Dustin Moseley (1-4, 2.47) at Rockies’ Jorge De La Rosa (4-1, 3.14), 6:40 p.m., Root
Saturday: Padres’ Aaron Harang (5-2, 4.07) at Rockies’ Jhoulys Chacin (4-2, 2.68), 1:10 p.m., Root
